Hey guys!

Looking for some tips on how to make things look more attractive under the hood.

I just painted my intake shroud, looks great to me, BUT my friggin cloth hood insilator is rubbing on one spot, causing friction marks on that particullar area.

Bummer, sand and redo.

Anyone replace the stock heat shield with a thinner more efficient thinner mylar type insulation? Too lazy to use the search forum at this second..



I would just take it out all together, but I worry about paint discoloration on the hood for excess heat...

I am thinking am going to go with a Hyrodip on the shroud and valve covers.. There Is a guy on the XJ8 facebook group with some pretty awesome work done to his engine bay.

Here is a ruthlessly stolen image from his page.







Love it.

I asked him about it but he never responded :-(

Anywho, any suggestions on

A. Where to source that sexy coolant cap. (maybe a stainless billet cap with a sticker?) and the super cool dust caps.

B. Obviously getting a Caldoofy, What color do you guys think would go good with the Jaguar Racing Green Exterior.

Let me have it!

 

Cmon Biggieslicky, 225 views no opinions on color combos.

Start it off lol!

I was thinking green, but It may not look right unless it matches pretty close.

 

This is my dream set up in a BMW.

Oxford green on Cinnamon..

Cant say that green and orange don't look awesome together ( to me ).

 

Carbon looks cool, but I am not sure I am too fond of it.


https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/e...dipped-115413/

Yay, I am not the only one who thinks this is cool, lol.

 

The coolant cap is just a grill badge stuck on, looks awful IMHO

Looks like he got some cheap tire valve caps with cats heads and screwed them on the bolts for the shocks.

The orange is OK but I think the R logos is going too far.

If the Caldoofy intake tube was painted/coated black same as the cast intake pipe over the engine would look better. And black coloured hose clamps. Too many colours, black, orange, chrome, red... two colours max.

The S-Types had plastic covers that went over the top of the shocks to completely hide the bolts and connections. I'd look into something like that if you want to tidy it up.

 

Yea the covers look way way better than the cat heads thats for sure!!! I think it would look better with just regular Jaguar embossed caps rather than the cats too.

I like where he was going with the coolant cap, It is just to big for my tastes. Smaller more subtle is better. I was thinking that it was just a sticker of sorts as well.

Something like this-





Is it not bad to run the car without the plastic shroud????? I like that look, but I would think that the plastic part serves a purpose no?

 

I think the wheel centre caps would be about the right size to go on top of the radiator cap. There are people making stickers to go over the wheel caps. Or the wheel cap could be peeled apart and you re-use the center part. They are a slightly domed metal plate, razor sharp edges (i cut my finger on one).

The engine cover does help to keep the chargecoolers cool a little, also to reduce engine/supercharger noise, as well as for the visuals.

I don't think it matters too much if you run without it, only in extreme heat would you really notice a difference.

EDIT

If I was going to go overboard on the engine bay, I would get the charge-coolers and intake tubes ceramic-coated a matt black, then sand off the SUPERCHARGED letters so the raw alloy spells it out (basically the opposite of what you see in that S-Type pic).

The whole valve cover could be coloured (not just the coil-cover panels) to match the engine cover. Whichever colour you choose.

Have a search in the XK8-XKR section for pictures from member XKRacer, he runs Paragon Design in the UK, and does lots of engine bay detailing like you are looking for, but for older models. You might get some good ideas from him.

 

Cool deal! While I have you here cambo, what is your opinion on the "fire shield" that is attached to the hood?

Do you think I run the risk of discoloration if I remove it?

Edit; I ran the car for a few days without the plastic shroud and it didn't really seem to make a difference.

 

If you remove the underbonnet liner you will probably find that;

- The paint on the underside of the bonnet is missing/patchy, i.e. you can see the undercoat
- The bonnet liner will be destroyed as you remove it
- The supercharger will sound louder
- The bonnet will get hotter

A few of the S-Type R guys took the liners off, no damage to paint was reported as far as I know...

Sadly our forum member tbirddmnd (Gonzo) who seemed to be the only one making custom hood liners passed away last year... Aircraft firewall material hood liner insulation pad for Mustang, Corvette, Jaguar, many other cars: Jaguar Gallery but the business is closed. Quite a number of forum members got these hoodliners from him...

 

Hey cambo,

Took my liner off just now. Liner is 100% fine.

I used a plastic trim removal tool to pry the plastic clips out without destroying the fabric or breaking any clips.

Also the paint is mint underneath.

Took about 45 seconds.

 

 

Cool.

My bonnet liner was falling apart so I guess yours was still in good shape.

Regarding the paint, so now i'm wondering if my car was painted on a Friday afternoon, the underside of the bonnet is patchy, as well as around the radiator support, under the plastic cover, around the headlights.

 

Mine was near mint, just a scuff where it was rubbing on the shroud.

Even though all the pins and such are fine it still sags in the center...

It is now a boot liner.

 

Quite liking those rubber shock covers.....wondering if they'll fit on my XJ 2.7?
I'd imagine so but need to check unless anyone can confirm?

 

Haven't done much with mine at all, other than keeping it clean


I did take the time to paint "JAGUAR" in high temp heat resistant Red paint which makes it look a little better.





I'm thinking those rubber shock covers if they fit, maybe even add a Red leaper decal to each one?
Either that of a solid piece of aluminium billet with holes drilled out, maybe a leaper engraved on it ( might be too blingy for me though )

 

If only we knew someone that had an S-Type and an XJ... oh wait a second...

Sorry no luck, they don't fit on the XJ...

The spacing of the shock bolts is different.

S-Type is 65mm x 78mm
X350 is 71mm x 85mm

The mounting isn't square, it's a rectangle...

I could squeeze the cap over the bolts but it went out of round, and then there is another issue. The surface on the top of the S-Type shock tower is basically flat in a circle. But on the XJ there are many raised sections.

So if you custom made a cover, it would have to have cut-outs to accommodate the uneven surface...

Here are the S-Type pieces;



Something similar needed, but with the right bolt spacing, and the side modified to suit the surface of the shock tower...

 

I added a round Jaguar logo emblem to the top of the round PCV valve on the left side of the engine. I think it adds a nice look. The Jaguar logo is a wheel center cap sticker off Ebay - just peel and stick. Here is the Ebay link.
4pcs 65mm Jaguar Wheel Center Hub Cap Emblem Badge Decal Stickers | eBay

Previous owner put the leaping cat on the engine cover so I just left it there.